Indelible Love Series + Entwined Bundle

by DW Cee

  “Dinner?” he asked again.

  “Yes,” Mom replied and quickly found her chance to get away.

  “Dani? You up for Italian tonight with us?” Jamie looked way too happy.

  “No. Ian’s supposed to come here. After the game we’ll go grab some burgers then go home and do homework. You and Mom have a good time. Just bring her home at a decent hour.” I winked at Mom in a gesture begging for forgiveness and truce. “I always seem to end up being the parent somehow with Mom and her relationships.”

  “Is midnight too late?”

  “Um, yeah! Way too late. She needs to be home by 10:00.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he saluted me.

  Mom’s beautiful smile returned as she shook her head all the way to the stands.

  OLIVIA 2005

  What had just happened? One minute, so many unsettled emotions wreaked havoc on my heart - the fear of Dani’s reaction to seeing me at her game, the pain of ending my relationship with Jamie, and the expected suffering to come after losing Jamie. Then the very next minute, Dani was hugging me, I didn’t have to end my relationship with Jamie, and Jamie was making out with me in front of the softball population. Weird! I’d have to get Jamie and Dani to explain everything to me when the game was over.

  “Hi Mrs. Kingston.”

  “Hello, Ian! It’s so nice of you to drive all the way out here to watch Dani play.”

  “I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon.” This boy had a gorgeous smile and a warmth that went much deeper than his age. “I don’t know what I’ll do when we separate.”

  He spoke to me but only had eyes for my daughter. As a mother looking out for her child, Ian was ideal. He had a good head on his shoulders, he was mature, and best of all, he loved my daughter. How could I ask for more?

  “You guys will see each other when you come home for the holidays and with modern technology, you can 'see' each other just about daily. The distance will only help strengthen your relationship.”

  “I don’t know, Mrs. Kingston. I fear that she’ll go off and find another guy on campus and forget all about me.”

  “Ian. You are truly hard to forget. Dani’s had it hard since her dad died. She’s fiercely protective of me and she has this notion that she needs to be both my daughter and my husband and take care of me.” It made me smile to think of my young daughter trying to take care of someone twice her age. “Paul was our caretaker and he did such a stellar job it’s been hard on us both. I hope you’ll help Dani through this tough time. With my own grief, I haven’t helped Dani as much as I should have. I’m so glad you’re in her life.”

  “I hope you’re right, Mrs. Kingston. I’d like to get to know her better if she’ll let me.”

  “She likes you a lot, I can tell. Someone actually accused me of being high maintenance, if you can believe that,” a smile and a wink escaped me, which made Ian chuckle, “and I think Dani might have a bit of that side as well. Understand that she’s a sweetheart deep inside.”

  “I’ll try to remember that when she’s driving me crazy.” He made us both laugh.

  “Ian. You’re sitting a little too close to my woman. Scoot over,” Jamie demanded, separating us.

  “Shouldn’t you be recording the game, Mr. Statistician?” Ian retorted with a snarky question.

  “If you’d pay more attention to the game rather than my woman, you’d know that there was an injury on the field and the game is on hiatus.”

  “Injury? Is Dani alright?” Ian asked even quicker than I did.

  “It’s on the home team. Why don’t you go all the way around to the visitor’s side and talk to your girlfriend rather than poaching on mine.”

  “Seriously, Jamie. Is any of this conversation necessary?” I gave him my cute but nasty look.

  “See you in a bit, Mrs. Kingston.” Ian purposely kissed my cheek and ran off before Jamie could do any bodily harm. We witnessed him cackling all the way to Dani.

  “Impudent boy!” Jamie snarled.

  “If he’s impudent, then what are you? Obnoxious?”

  “Don’t get sassy with me, Olivia Kingston. I’ve had a mentally challenging afternoon with you Kingston ladies already.”

  My face must have shown a confused scowl because Jamie explained himself immediately – gloated was a better word for what he did.

  “Didn’t you notice I got Dani to give us her blessing?”

  “I noticed.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me the whole truth about why you tried to end our relationship? I could’ve worked on Dani days ago and kept you from agonizing between your daughter and me – your new love.” His presumptuous grin made another appearance.

  Not wanting to continue this conversation, stupidly, I turned away.

  “Hey.” He brought my face back around. “We’re in this together. If something or someone breaks your heart, I want to know about it and help you heal. I’m not asking you to choose between me and your daughter. You can have us both. It’s not that hard.”

  “How did you turn Dani around?”

  “All women give into my charm, except you, apparently.” Jamie gave me a rankled grimace. “I’ll tell you over dinner.”

  “Jamie, I’d like to go home and talk to Dani tonight, instead. Would you be okay with that? Can we have dinner another night?”

  He looked aggravated again.

  “I haven’t really spoken with her since before she left for Boston. I’ve really missed talking to her.”

  This time, Jamie looked sad. Though he explained he didn’t want me to choose between the two of them, when the choice was made and Dani was the winner, he had a wounded look.

  “I tell you what,” I squeezed his hand while explaining the rest of my idea, “how about if I pick up dinner on the way home, and you and Ian can come over and have dinner with us? Would that work?”

  “That works!” he answered gladly and meandered back to the dugout.

  “That smells good!” Ian called as everyone arrived together.

  “Hi Liv,” Jamie came over and kissed me a little too enthusiastically in front of the kids.

  “Move over!” Dani literally pushed Jamie out of the way and embraced me. “Wasn’t that a great game? Did you enjoy it, Mom?”

  “Of course I enjoyed it. I love all your games. I just don’t like watching pro baseball.” With all the containers opened, I encouraged everyone to grab their food. “Dani, there’s steak and veal milanese if you don’t want anything with tomato sauce.”

  “Don’t you like tomato sauce?” Ian asked, puzzled.

  “Too acidic. Does a number on my stomach,” Dani answered. “Thanks, Mom.” She gave me a heartwarming hug again.

  “And Jamie, there’s gnocchi in a tomato vodka cream sauce for you,” I said softly.

  “What about me?” Ian whined. “I feel really left out here.”

  “Well, I’ve saved the best for last. A little bird told me you and I share a love for chocolate chip ice cream. There happens to be a gallon of ice cream sitting in the freezer as we speak.”

  “You’re the best, Mrs. Kingston!” Brazenly, Ian kissed me on the cheek again.

  “Hey! You’ve kissed my woman more than I have today. You need to stop that,” Jamie warned.

  “How many times did you kiss Mom?” Now Dani didn’t sound too happy.

  To make up for all his sins, Ian gave a kiss on the lips to Dani right in front of all of us. She turned bright red and punched him hard on the arm.

  “Ow!” Ian hollered.

  “I warned you these Kingston ladies were difficult!”

  That deserved a punch in both arms from us Kingston ladies.

  With dinner done and the men away, I put the kitchen back in order and walked up to Dani’s room. Even though we had a great time during dinner, I wanted to make sure my daughter was comfortable with me seeing someone new.

  “Dani?”

  “Yeah, Mom. What’s up?”

  “You done with homework? Can w
e talk?”

  “Yeah, I guess…” She wasn’t ready to talk to me but this was a conversation that needed to be had.

  “Can we talk about Jamie?”

  “I guess…? Suddenly, both Dani’s hands flew to cover her face and she blurted out, “I’m sorry I was such a brat and I’m okay with you dating Jamie.”

  Sitting next to Dani on her bed with both my arms tightly wrapped around my daughter I encouraged her to talk to me. “Are you sure? Tell me what you’re afraid of and how I can help you deal with this unexpected situation.”

  “I didn’t mean to say all those mean things to you. And I know you loved Daddy. It scares me that Jamie will replace Daddy in your heart and eventually mine, too. Already, there are days when I don’t think about him that much.”

  “Sweetheart, your daddy can never be replaced – not by Jamie, not by Ian, not by any human being.” We turned around to face each other, still loosely hugging. “I don’t know where this relationship will end up between me and Jamie but what I do know, and what I want to make sure of, is that our relationship will stay strong. I know it’s been hard on you. I’ve been a basket case since your dad died. Let’s both be strong for one another. I think your father would like that.”

  Dani’s tears started my own. We lay on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, thinking about the man who got away.

  “Dinner tonight? You, me, no kids!” Jamie insisted with a loud exclamation mark over our telephone call.

  Playing hard to get, I withheld my answer for a few seconds longer than comfortable.

  “Aw come on, Liv! We haven’t had a real date since Dani’s been back. Come over to my place. I’ll make us dinner and we can watch a movie…or not.” The last two words came out with a devilish promise.

  “What are you making?”

  “Well, Mrs. Kingston, you won’t know unless you come over.”

  “I’ll think about it.” A sly smile and a quiet giggle cracked. “If I were to come over, where would I go? I don’t know where you live.”

  “I’m coming to get you at 7:00. Pack an overnight bag.”

  “I am not spending the night at your place!”

  “Whatever. Be ready by 7:00!” He hung up before I could respond.

  The day flew by between helping Meghan with the twins and getting myself dolled up for a date with my…boyfriend? At the age of 40, the word boyfriend sounded incorrect. Very few women my age had boyfriends. That was a terminology for girls Dani’s age. I couldn’t claim Jamie as just a friend. He wasn’t my husband. So, the most fitting name I supposed would be boyfriend. Weird.

  At my insistence, Jamie gave me his address and I drove to his home right at 7:00. To make him nervous, I considered showing up late but decided against playing games with him since he’d been so sweet about getting our relationship back on track.

  Jamie lived in the bottom left unit of a red brick quadplex. The street was quiet, tree-lined and sterile. There were no kids playing ball outside, nor families walking around the neighborhood. With all the compact cars and bicycles lining the street, it was safe to assume not many families lived here. This street was meant for a single person, or perhaps the double income, no kids type of couples.

  “Are you going to stay out there the whole time and stare at my neighborhood or are you coming in to spend some time with me?” Jamie called from his opened front door.

  “How’d you know I was here?”

  “I saw your car park a few spots down but I wondered where you’d gone. I thought you got lost.” He quickly pulled me up the steps and into his arms. “Hi!” His kiss was warm and very inviting. “Should we make love first or have dinner first?”

  “Dinner. I’m starved.”

  Jamie’s chagrined faced put a smile on mine. “I need to leave right after dinner to pick up Dani from her girlfriend’s house,” I added to aggravate his already scrunched up forehead.

  “What? I told you to pack an overnight bag. I thought you would spend the night.”

  “And I told you I can’t just spend the night with you whenever your libido goes on overdrive. I have a daughter to take care of and I will not be one of those mothers who sleeps around.” My tone matched his anger.

  “Liv, where do I fit in your life? Do you have any room left? Will I always be on the back burner till Dani is married and settled?”

  He was hurt.

  “Jamie, I told you my first priority has to be…”

  The ringing of the doorbell cut off our conversation.

  “Mom. Dad. What brings you here?” Jamie’s surprised voice in no way matched the panic that lodged into my heart when the door opened.

  What were they doing here?

  I wasn’t ready to meet them yet.

  We had only just resolved the issue with Dani.

  I wasn’t ready for another battle.

  “I’m sorry we didn’t call,” his mother explained while staring at me, “but we were nearby and thought maybe we could have dinner together? Your father hasn’t seen you in weeks.”

  Perspiration built and anxiety rose to a dangerous level for me. The next step would be a full-blown panic attack if I didn’t get myself under control.

  “Hello,” a sweet and gentle-voiced man came over to me and put out his hand for me to shake. “I’m Harold Hutchison and this is my wife, Rose.”

  “Hi.” I forced myself to give both of them a casual but warm smile. Already, his mother was not warm to my greeting. “My name is Olivia Kingston.”

  “Are you a friend of Jamie’s? A colleague? A neighbor?” It was apparent to all of us that Jamie’s mom knew I was a lot more than a friend, colleague or neighbor, but she wanted to hear who I was, straight from me. Her eyes were piercing – even a bit scary. This situation was so vastly different from when I first met Paul’s parents. They loved me instantly even though they met me for the first time over a speakerphone on our way to Vegas. Contrary to that meeting, I now felt so unwanted and disliked.

  As I looked to Jamie for help, “I’m…Jamie’s friend,” was all I could spit out. My heart felt a slight paper cut of a tear when Jamie didn’t step in to explain and defend who I was in his life. Standing in his apartment on a Friday night, there should have been no doubt that I was the love of Jamie’s life – as he so told me many times before – but doubt was all that kept me secure tonight.

  “Mom, Dad, this is not a good time,” he answered in a strained voice. Whether the taut expression was an extension of our earlier argument or from his parents’ unexpected visit, I couldn’t decipher. Jamie still stood by the door tightly holding onto the doorknob, Rose was still technically outside with her hand on her son’s arm, and Harold and I stood in the middle of the living room attempting to find something intangible but comfortable to grasp.

  “Rose, why don’t we come back another time? It looks like Jamie and Olivia are already engaged for the evening.”

  “I think it’ll be alright to stay.” Rose pushed her son into the living room and closed the door. “What did you make, Jamie? It smells wonderful.” We all watched her walk into the small kitchen and open the oven. “There’s plenty of food for all of us.”

  Somehow a twosome became a foursome and I pushed the food around on my plate while conversing the best I could with Harold.

  “Do you live close by, Olivia?”

  “Yes. I’m not too far away. Do you and Rose live nearby as well?”

  “My wife and I are fortunate to have all four kids and their families close to us.”

  “Jamie told me he has three sisters and they are all married. How many grandchildren do you have?”

  “We have seven so far with one more on the way this summer. As often as we see them, it’s still never enough.” Harold’s eyes turned even softer when he spoke of his grandchildren. There was no question he was the type of grandfather who played catch with the grandkids, took them out for ice cream, and spoiled them thoroughly.

  “What about you, Olivia. I hear you have a grown
daughter?” The shrillness in her voice snapped me away from our soothing talk.

  Rather than defending me and Dani, Jamie voiced a weak, “Mom,” more as a plea than a warning. That small paper cut was slowly splitting my heart in two.

  “Yes,” I answered back without hesitation. “I have an 18 year old daughter named Danielle. She’s a senior in high school and will be going off to college this fall.” I was proud of my daughter and resented Rose’s innuendo that there was something wrong with the fact that I had a child.

  “Eighteen?” Harold chuckled. “Did you have her when you were twelve? You’re way too young to have a kid that old. Why you look younger than Heather, our youngest.”

  “That’s very kind of you to say, Harold. I got married at twenty-two and had Dani right away.”

  “And Dani’s father?” Harold asked as kindly as humanly possible.

  Only by the grace of God, was I able to answer without breaking down. “He passed away in a car crash.”

  “Oh dear, I’m so sorry to hear that. From our brief evening together, I’m convinced your husband misses you just as much as you miss him.”

  Harold’s hand being placed over mine was my undoing.

  “Excuse me.” I bolted to the bathroom even before those two words left my tongue.

  Sitting on the toilet seat, tears streamed down my face but I didn’t make a sound. Tonight was all so strange. I was on a date with someone other than Paul. I was meeting another set of parents. And I was trying to live a whole new life. Not happy with the new me, I was desperate to go back to the comforts of the old Olivia.

  Through the thin walls, I could hear an argument brewing outside.

  “Why are you dating someone who just lost her husband? You can see that she still mourns him. How will she love you if she can’t forget her husband?”

  Those were valid questions from a mother who cared about her son, yet so callously asked.

  “Rose, I think Olivia’s lovely. Leave Jamie to live his own life. I’m sure he knows what he’s getting himself into.”